Day 3 - "The View, the scene...."

From the beach to the bay, from the bay to the roller blade trail - we are having a great time in Coronado....

Day 2 - "Tru Love"

You must admit - we look SO good together. First on our way out to check out the neighborhood on the island and then on Coronado beach using the timer. Very much fun - together - I love this man, and this honeymoon is one for the history books. Life is good. Love is better.

Honeymoon - Day 1 - "There is nothing better than going first class"

I have to say that the trip was the best ever... not only because we were together, but the service on US Airways really topped any experience I have had on their airlines. I love the comfort of first class and feeling "extra" special. Especially on this particular trip with my true love.

Scenes from Camp Norwich

The littlest of creatures - Mr. Grasshopper

Photo by Nancy E with my Nikon D50
Fabulous!
Jumping across my Perception Cadence Kayak in the front driveway.

A prancing peacock in Granby

I love photographing animals, their personalities that make each unique creature that God has made its own being - - wondering what is going on in the mind of these animals as they cross the road, cross my running path, or as we were on a back street in Granby, MA on my birthday in June - - a peacock (from the neighbor farm) crossed the road with this gorgeous tail, in no hurry, jumped up on the fence and then pranced away in its "Peacock" way to get some seed from the hay bales in the shed. What a beautiful animal - - I was so glad I had my Nikon D50 to take these photos.....

The theme of the week - LISTEN!

Crazy week, lots of travel and work goals have me crazy, challenging me and I really am ready to slow down. Looking forward to a break with our San Diego trip coming up, but realizing it is time to take a little step back and listen - - to my family, to my friends and make adjustments to be "heard" and mellow out my life once again.

So this post is dedicated to "listening".



First - Stephen's tshirt that is just so appropriate for today.

Next words that fit the theme from a not as appropriate rapper Talib Kwelli and his song "Listen": "Get it now, get it fast, get it right, Get it big, get it live, get it done, get it tight"

Then a music video from one of my favorite artists - Beyonce - "Listen"

Cancer Awareness - with a Twist - on a tshirt!

Detra and I were sitting in the general session of the National RFL Leadership Summit in Indy this past weekend, and sighted this tshirt statement on a University of Hawaii volunteer in the crowd. I had to take the photo to share.... a little xrated for my blog, but it surely gets the attention of our college youth!

"The Crazy Bike Adventure!"

It was a beautiful day - - we put off going on a bike ride as we did our daily chores, working outside on the landscaping, vacuuming and Schuyler playing with legos and helping with his chores too. We finished the lawn and weeding and now were finally free to go out on the bike path that went goes from Belchertown to Northampton ( 25 mile round trip). We loaded the bikes in the back of the truck and off we went. Schuyler has not ridden his bike much this summer as we haven't had much of a full day to get outside, but today was so nice and we set aside the time... I got him some new bike gloves from Pearlizumi on our trip up there for the mountain run and he was so excited to get on his bike. We parked the truck got our bikes ready and off we went on the path. Schuyler was doing so well managing the balance on his bike (the bigger challenge was to stay focused!) Only one crash our final desination before turn around was the ice cream stand in Hadley - - once we got to that point we found the shop had closed down. So - - next decision was if we wanted to go to Northampton where the boat is parked and there is another shop. After looking at the clock and Schuyler's desire for ice cream moved us forward. We got to Hadley common and looked to the sky where you could see the dark clouds rolling in... hmmm ... should we keep going or turn around. I, myself hate thunderstorms with a passion and we had battled a few of recent on the boat, so I pushed to turn around and then get ice cream at Cindy's in Granby. "OK" said the boys and we headed back along the path.

The clouds began to roll in and the wind started to blow the trees - - we realized the wind was coming in and the clouds were getting darker. Before you knew it the rain was coming down in sheets... Schuyler was scared and I frankly was trying to keep the pace to get him moving faster toward the shelter and take the mind off his fear of the thunder. It was the wind that made it worse, blowing the trees and then "crash!" down in front of the bike path a tree fell - - Steve was the calming nature behind rallying Schuyler and I found my way and took the bikes over the top of that tree - - we continued... rain, wind, thunder and lightning were in the sky. We pedaled faster and faster... CRASH!!! another tree slammed into the ground in front of me, I looked back to see that S&S were ok and with wide eyes looked at Steve and said "what now?!" - he in a calm manner said climb around it - - I went down into the gutter and found an opening to climb over the base through branches... Schuyler followed and I tossed the bikes over the tree with all my adrenaline... it was crazy. Schuyler was really pretty scared and that scared me more than maybe I would be as we kept pedaling faster to get to the tunnel where we would be safe. Finally we made it there. Schuyler was soaking wet, as all of us were, but he was shivering, so we huddled together to get him warm. We waited until the storm passed for the most part before we headed out (about 15 minutes or so....). Some people were out walking and riding on their way home too. We saw a police man checking the weather without any fear in his eyes... so it was ok. We got on our bikes and the more we pedaled we were able to stay warm. It was another 4-5 miles to the truck so we kept on going. Schuyler became an amazing bike rider dodging in and out of branches and jumping over small trees, Steve was amazed. : )

We made it back - there was one last tree to get through, which is the picture i posted here. We were so happy to be in the heat of the truck - - we went home, had a hot shower, Schuyler had a hot bath and we went out to ice cream as promised at Cindys! : ) Schuyler kept saying "this is the worsted day of my life" because of his fear, but we have turned that around to him appreciated the adventure of the survival tale being out in the crazy weather!

1. In the tunnel, undercover for safety
2. Schuyler taking photos right before we turned around (I love that pic!)
3. The last tree we climbed over and through that crazy day!

My love for Mountains

Today I changed my heading. Mountains. I love the mountains.... its in my email address since the early 90's (nanskimtn was born a LONG time ago!) and also taking photos of the mountains and as magnificent as they are in person - - a photo does no justice. It is cool to see my photography as a part of my header.... the header previous was a photo I took from the Continental Divide taken from Jackal Hut in Vail when I tripped out west with Jana. Currently my header is the vista from top of Panorama shot with my Nikon D50 before dinner at the lodge with Steve & the Reads. It is a photo that reminds me of my favorite place to be - on skis - in the mountains - - and now with the mountain running (no time for photos with this kind of view) - but more vistas to enjoy and share! I am most comfortable with my "skin" when in the mountains!

I love blogger -- it is so intuitive for creating a blog that fits.... adding all my little widgets and coding from the blogroll to the nikeplus brags on my runs to challenges and pictures with little notes that make it uniquely me.
Here are some other favorites from Nancy E Photography!

(top to bottom)

Mt. Snow, VT - with the Snow Princesses on Lower Carinthia
Continental Divide at night - Vail, CO
Panorama, BC Canada - view from mid mountain
Kicking Horse, BC, Canada- lift line in the fore front gives it that special skiing feeling!

Nike Women's Marathon Map

Looking at the course map for Nike - - we start at Union Square and then head out to the Golden Gate bridge, run along the water and out to the zoo and back around to finish at the Great Highway.

Overall series female honors - La Sportiva Mountain Series

From Dave Dunham's story linked to coolrunning.com to recap the results from Ascutney for female finishers:
On the Women’s side Dorcas Wonsavage (CSU) had an impressive run at Ascutney. Her winning time (37:56) was the 5th best time ever, and the 2nd fastest ever for 40+. Laurie Greenberg was close behind, running the 8th fastest time at Ascutney. Abby Woods (CMS) rounded out the top three in 38:51. Nancy Cook finished in 4th place running the 6th best 40+ times, and Donna Smyth (CSU) was 5th running the 10th best 40+ time.


For the women, first time series participant Nancy Cook took home top honors and $250 winning the series with 461.17 points. She finished 2nd at Loon, 4th at Cranmore, 7th at both Northfield and Pack, and 10th at Wachusett. Donna Smyth ($150) was second with 442.68 points. She placed 5th at Cranmore, 6th at Loon, 13th at Pack and 15th at Wachusett. Kathy Hurst won $100 for third place with 439.89 points, she was the overall series champion in 2005.

Here is the link to the story - - and the picture of the mountain goats to be published on the USATF site and La Sportiva sites soon too! 59 Goats finished all 6 of the races. The overall finish points and results are posted too! Looking at all time finishers, I am listed as 32nd for overall point leaders and am the only one on the list for less than 7 races.... definitely a highlight for me (a consistent finisher). : ) Looking back at the series I remember not knowing when to or if to push at Wachusset, (not a great finish for me, but that was my first mountain run), Pack felt the same way, although I like the 10 miler (forgot my race bib on that one - remember?)... Northfield was the massive downhill that is NOT my strength (just send me UP - - please!!), Lost on the ski trails at Cranmore definitely hurt my finish and well maybe I finally got it together at Loon. (my favorite - although the toughest of the group in my mind). Ascutney was short and sweet (but almost too short for my liking) - - and I now LOVE the trails. Love to train in the back woods and can't wait to find another trail race to run!

What's next?
First family time, waterskiing on the boat, long distance training focused on the Nike Women's marathon in SF. The Applefest 1/2 marathon and looking for a 1/2 in early September to round out the training plan moving into being in top shape for San Fransisco. Although now that I have the "bug" I would love to find a trail race to do soon! : )

Happy Trails!

Ascutney Mountain Run - VT - 2nd place master, 5th woman!

Race results were posted today ---
34th overall
Time: 40:20
Nancy Cook F 40-49
2nd in age group
Belchertown MA
Pace per mile: 0:10:37
2nd place in age group

Dorcas was first with a 35:56 which makes me a little over 4 min behind her
Jenny was fourth with a 39:39, which puts me 41 secs behind her!

What does it mean to be a Mountain Goat - USATF NE?

Statistics of the Mountain Goat accomplishments:
* Approximately 35 miles over 8 weeks
* 11987 feet of elevation ascended
* 5100 feet of elevation descended

Mt. Washington Lottery bypass is given to all Mountain Goats.....

Here is the picture of the group of mountain goats that have completed all 6 races and another picture of just the women goats! Those that have their hands raised are first year goats!

What a great series and challenging sport to get into - I am very glad I made the commitment.

What does it mean to be a mountain goat?
1. You took on the challenge and the commitment to run 6 mountain races in New England - mostly uphill, but some with some crazy dangerous downhills as well.
2. You crossed the start line in rain, lightning, beating down heat and sunshine - - and proceeded with trust that the course was well marked to get you up and down (in some cases only) to the finish line
3. You support the sport of track and field - USATF member and promote running to others, inherently by finishing all these crazy races and talking about it!

Cool. Yes indeed an accomplishment. But mostly very cool to finish all 6 and then on top of it for me to rank among these amazing runners! I have achieved yet another level of athletics that I may not have imagined I would take on even 2 years ago... Very cool indeed.

Mt. Ascutney Mountain Climb

The last race of the series.... all pavement... all uphill... it leveled out a little near the top and ended in the parking lot. Quite a challenge, but only 3.8 miles. I could see the lead women most of the way until it started switchbacks closer to the top. Dorcas (a master) won for the women and Abby was third. Jenny (the first place girl from Loon) was right ahead of me and I was less than a minute behind her. The second place girl I didn't recognize, but it is cool how you see the same racers at these events. I ended up 5th overall and 2nd master. And I fulfilled the goal to be a mountain goat!

From top to bottom: Dorcas (first place woman) who is a cross country ski champion, Eric Blake (first place male), Jenny (my buddy who has challenged me the past 2 races) and then me at the finish line at the top of the mountain.

Running Raw video of Loon Mtn pre-race course review

Check out this video! Pretty funny but honest commentary about the steep section of the course....

"Cruel" is the word.... how you go past the finish at the top of the gondola and then have yet to climb the steepest section of the course.....

The last day of Tball

Another favorite photo from yesterday.. Schuyler's last day of Tball. He loves sports of all kinds.... and loves to be with the other kids... Chloe, Austin and others were really a lot of fun for him to spend time with this summer....

Classic foot shot of Schuyler - love it!

C5A

While photographing Schuyler at UMASS soccer academy a C5A flew overhead. I love this photo!

We often see these airplanes fly over our home in Belchertown as one of the largest air force bases in the country - Westover Airforce Base. There is an air show in September that we hope to go to and really see the base.

photos of the C5A aircraft
These planes are monstrous!

Photos from Loon

Leading the way in the La Sportiva Series!

La Sportiva Rankings

Photos and Race Story from the White Mountain Milers Blog


Number one woman (overall and best 4 of 5)
Number one in age (master) - best 4 of 5
Possible Mountain Goat - if I finish next weekend I am a mountain goat!

Very, VERY cool!